1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to tools for cleaning plumbing drains and more specifically to a combination toilet plunger and brush tool in which the brush and plunger are coupled to the same handle.
2. State of the Art
Toilet plungers and toilet brushes have been used for many years. Their general structure, methods of manufacture, function and usefulness are well known. A conventional plunger is generally made of some form of resilient rubber material that includes a concave region. When the plunger is pressed against a surface or into an opening, the space of the concave region is depressed and a suction is created as the concave region is moved back to its original shape. Plungers are commonly used for forcing water into and suctioning matter out of drains and other plumbing fixtures. For convenience in manipulating the plunging end of the plunger, toilet plungers include a long, straight, rounded handle rod that the user grasps when moving the plunger up and down.
Conventional toilet brushes include a plurality of flexible bristles extending from a center rod or a bristle surface. The rod or surface is generally coupled to a handle for easy manipulation. The handle for a toilet brush is generally much shorter than the handle of a plunger (⅓ to ⅔ the length). Methods and materials for making and using toilet brushes, like plungers, are well known in the art.
Both toilet brushes and toilet plungers generally come into contact with things found in a toilet and often become covered with toilet paper, excrement, or at least germ-laden toilet water. Unless the user actually uses fingers to pluck the material clinging to the brush or plunger, users generally shake the plunger or brush, or tap the plunger or brush on the side of the toilet to remove the contaminated materials before storage. Each of these movements, however, because of the restricted area available within the toilet bowl, frequently results in the toilet water and related toilet germs splattering outside of the toilet bowl.
Storage of toilet brushes and toilet plungers is conventionally maintained somewhere in the bathroom and is generally very unsightly. Toilet brushes and plungers are generally stored separately, each having an elongated handle that requires tall or wide storage space. In recent years, short plastic cases have been used to enclose and store the bristle portion of the brush on the floor next to the toilet.
Others have created combination brush and plunger tools that are not designed, intended or practical for many uses, including use with a toilet. In United States Design Patent D274,273 to Auerbach (Jun. 12, 1984), Auerbach discloses a design for a garbage disposal thrust plunger and related brush. Different from a toilet plunger which creates suction to draw clogged materials from a drain, however, the plunger of Auerbach is a thrust stick to push items into a garbage disposal with short, rigid bristles on the end for scrubbing the disposal fixtures. The Auerbach tool could not be used to unclog a toilet by suction and is different from most conventional toilet brushes.
U.S. Utility Pat. No. 5,617,605 to Hoerner et al. (Apr. 8, 1997) discloses a sink drain cleaning tool including a cleaning brush and plunger handle at one end, a plunger plate in the middle, and a brush handle at the other end. Apart from the shape of the plunger being designed specifically for a sink shape rather than a toilet shape, it is clear from the positioning of the two handles that the inventor did not contemplate its use for cleaning toilets. Use of this tool requires the user to grasp the brush end of the tool to plunge and the plunger end to brush. It is likely that the user's hand will come in contact with contaminated tool surfaces during use.
It would be advantageous in the cleaning industry to have an attractive combination cleaning and plunging tool to use in cleaning toilets. It would also be advantageous if that tool required less storage space than the two tools separately, and included a convenient way to access the plunger in times of emergency or need. Since the typical use of a toilet brush is more frequent then the use of the plunger, the toilet brush is accessed more frequently. Having both devices readily available, on one tool that can be placed near the toilet, would be useful for both regular cleaning and occasional emergency plunging activities.